Additive manufacturing or three-dimensional printing is gaining momentum and moving beyond prototyping and towards use for manufacturing three-dimensional parts. The increase in popularity of additive manufacturing reduces the complexity of manufacturing replacement parts.
Users of industrial equipment and machines often may purchase replacement parts from an OEM or a dealer and expect the parts to be covered by warranty. Still further, genuine parts may be purchased from a third-party (e.g., are used parts) that are still covered by warranty. However, in some instances, a purchaser may acquire non-genuine products believing them to be genuine or, in some instances, knowing them not to be genuine.
If a failure of the equipment or machine occurs, the owner may look for compensation in terms of parts or services, or even liability, due to the failure of the equipment or machine based upon the failure of a replacement part. Before providing compensation, the manufacturer of the equipment or machine will likely want to confirm the authenticity of the parts that caused the failure of the equipment or machine. In some instances, manufacturers use coded information to identify manufacturing dates, locations, and other information so that they can authenticate genuine products. However, in some instances, unauthorized part manufacturers will copy the codes used by authorized part manufacturers in an attempt to pass-off their products as genuine.
As a result, manufacturers have developed further systems to reduce the likelihood that unauthorized products will be passed off as genuine products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,173,515 discloses a system in which RFID tags may be attached to genuine articles or products in order to ensure their authenticity.
The foregoing background discussion is intended solely to aid the reader. It is not intended to limit the innovations described herein, nor to limit or expand the prior art discussed. Thus, the foregoing discussion should not be taken to indicate that any particular element of a prior system is unsuitable for use with the innovations described herein, nor is it intended to indicate that any element is essential in implementing the innovations described herein. The implementations and application of the innovations described herein are defined by the appended claims.